“Can give us a lot of input”
©IMAGO
First ice hockey, then football: Jürgen Klopp made his first public appearance since taking office as Head of Global Soccer at Red Bull. On Friday evening, the 57-year-old attended the game between EHC Red Bull Munich and the Fischtown Pinguins from Bremerhaven in the German Ice Hockey League. The next day he was seen at Paris FC alongside Mario Gómez and former Brazil star Raí.
Klopp, who wore a cap from his new employer, did not see any victory in ice hockey. After regular time and extra time, the score was 1-1 in front of 10,796 fans, and the guests from the north prevailed in the penalty shootout. The trip to France was more successful. Second division team and promotion candidate Paris defeated Amiens SC 1-0 at the Stade Charlety. Klopp will be officially introduced in Salzburg on Tuesday.
As things stand, the former Liverpool coach will not attend RB Leipzig’s Bundesliga game against Werder Bremen on Sunday (3:30 p.m./DAZN). “We have already exchanged ideas and want to deepen this when he comes to Leipzig at some point,” said RB coach Marco Rose. “He can give us a lot of input when planning the squad and has a great network.”
Klopp has been the Austrian drinks company’s global head of football since January 1st. In addition to Leipzig, he is responsible for the clubs in Salzburg, New York, Brazil and Japan. The company also holds stakes in Leeds United and Paris and is also a donor to FC Torino and Atlético Madrid.
Klopp at Red Bull: calm instead of speculation
Speculation about a possible coaching job could arise in the future, but according to “dpa” information, the company is not planning that with Klopp. Rose, who was criticized in Leipzig in December and whose Klopp had voted to stay, hopes for calm: “It would be important if we could do our work at the locations every day without constantly looking at what Jürgen is doing Klopp. I don’t think he understands his role either.”